Reggae's Political Roots Lost In The Mainstream

Political Roots Of Reggae Lost In Mainstream

Ten years after the death of its greatest proponent, the beat of reggae music settles deeper into its groove, becoming an established part of the popular music scene.

A number of major reggae festivals are on the road this summer -- with two stopping in Connecticut within the week. Third World headlines a show also featuring the Killer Bees, calypso's Arrow and the Tribulations at Woodbury Ski & Rauet Sunday. The "Reggae Sunsplash" concert at Lake Compounce Festival Park in Bristol Wednesday features Maxi Priest, Shinehead, Carlene Davis, Dennis Brown, Andrew Tosh, Little Lenny and the A Team Band.

A Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers concert also is planned for a late summer tour, possibly including a stop at Lake Compounce.

At Great Woods in Mansfield, Mass., a reggae package featuring Steel Pulse, Special Beat, Burning Spear, Lucky Dube, Shelly Thunder and Daddy Freddy is set for July 28. And the Third World/Arrow package plays there in a world beat show Aug. 12, also featuring Ladysmith Black Mombazo, Sister Carol and Conscious Party.

Other popular reggae acts are stopping by in headlining gigs in clubs. Toad's Place in New Haven, for example, features Burning Spear July 15 and Eek-A-Mouse July 23.

Reggae continues to enliven mainstream pop radio as well. Maxi Priest's "Close to You" topped the chart last year; Ziggy Marley's new collection is at No. 79 (three stops behind the greatest hits collection "Legend" by his father Bob Marley, a 2-million-copy seller logging its second year on the charts). And UB40's latest remake, of Al Green's "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)," buoys its "Labour of Love Vol. II" album to the Top 50 in its highest ranking after 78 weeks on the charts.

The Al Green makeover is instructive, though, in analyzing what has changed since reggae great Bob Marley died of cancer in May 1981: the dearth of politics.

Dating back to breezy remakes of Memphis classics by Toots and the Maytals and before, much reggae these days seems to be remade U.S. oldies with a distinctive bass-heavy island beat. The original material seems to be dominated by simple love songs, "lover's rock," or light relationship tunes dominant in other pop music. For

a while, the only social insight came in reggae remakes of Tracy Chapman songs.

Why should we expect more from reggae than we do from pop music in general to deliver strong statements on the state of the world? Mostly because of the legacy of Bob Marley. A hero in Jamaica, and an eventual world spokesman for Third World freedom, Marley and his Wailers were able to create a world community wherever his music was played because the irresistible music was indelibly woven with the thread of urgent activism and awareness.

In addition to becoming the most charismatic figure in reggae, Marley became a national hero in Jamaica and the voice of revolution across the Third World. When Zimbabwe threw its independence celebration, Marley was invited by Prime Minister Robert Mugabe to be the headline attraction.

At the time of his death, leaders from both of Jamaica's political parties attended.

Even as the Jamaican Supreme Court convenes this week to finally render a decision on the tangled case of the Marley estate (he died without a will), the spirit of Marley has seemed to be beaten during the decade by a brand of reggae with capitalism more than liberation on its mind.

Among the rising subgenres of reggae that have risen since the death of Marley has been "dancehall" music, usually piloted by younger, urban Jamaicans delving into the island equivalent of rap, using similarly stripped-down electronic beats and enhanced bass to fuel their music.

Even in more traditional reggae, which leans toward an r & b feel, many albums are issued without any anthemic statement, aside from the odd track deploring apartheid. Ten years ago, reggae without politics was like rock 'n' roll without guitars -- an unthinkable omission in the days when activism fueled reggae as much as the celebrated ganja.

Today, many young reggae stars get their cues from New York rappers and vice versa. Shinehead, making an encore appearance on the Reggae Sunsplash tour this year, deftly blends reggae and rap on tunes that try to meld together both camps. KRS-One from Boogie Down Productions was one of the first New York rappers to regularly include the reggae beat on his albums. And reigning dancehall king Shabba Ranks returns the favor on his current major label release by inviting KRS-One to rap along.

Maxi Priest, whose "Close to You" had a chorus that sounded more like smooth contemporary soul than reggae, is also included on the Ranks record.

Priest's hit album "Bonafide" included a few topical tracks, including "Peace Throughout the World," featuring Soul II Soul's Jazzie B, and "Prayer for the World." But the overall tone of the album is a bright, polished hybrid of modern music.